Marauders' Moments
by CaratGold
Summary: Young Sirius goes to Hogwarts and things don't turn out as expected. Inspired by the info we get about the Black family in OOTP, hence SPOILERS!
1. Chapter 1

Marauders' Moments  
  
The compartment of the Hogwarts Express was filled with laughter and packed with First Years trying to stifle their excitement with sweets and jokes. Lucius Malfoy was trying to be the centre of attention but it was hard competing with Sirius Black, who had just as much money in his pockets to buy sweets and thus attention from their newly won friends.  
  
"Did your father buy you the broom he promised you?" Lucius shouted over the noise, smirking.  
  
Sirius was busy jinxing some Every Flavour Beans to jump into people's mouths, much to the delight and wonder of the huddle of boys surrounding him. He froze when he heard Lucius's voice and looked up. "We aren't allowed broomsticks in our first year," he growled, "stupid new rules, that's what you get if you employ someone like Dumbledore, my mother says…"  
  
Lucius grinned. "Ah, what a shame indeed," he said maliciously. Before he knew what was happening, a vomit-flavoured bean zoomed into his mouth, and he finally was the centre of attention, choking and spitting and with a scarlet face, and with all the children around him laughing.  
  
Not quite what he had intended.  
  
"You'll get that back, Sirius!" he hissed once he had stopped choking, but just then the door slit open and the Ravenclaw Prefect, Christine Watson, put her head inside. "We'll arrive in ten minutes, you'd better all change into your robes." She vanished again.  
  
Sirius and Lucius looked at each other and rolled their eyes.  
  
"Mudbloods as Prefects," Sirius muttered as he started to search his robes in his trunk, "I wonder what's next!"  
  
Lucius sneered an agreement and, when Sirius turned his back on him, hexed the lock of his trunk so that it tried to bite him.  
  
As they stood before the doors leading to the Great Hall, none of the students could contain their nervousness any longer. Lucius and Sirius stood side by side and tried to chat easily about last summer's Pureblood Festival, but they failed miserably.  
  
"No need to be nervous," Sirius muttered, "it's just that old hat…"  
  
"Yes," Lucius said, his eyes darting around to observe the others. One girl was chewing her nails, another her pigtails; a pale boy was playing with his wand, which suddenly let go a nervous golden spark that ignited another boy's robes.  
  
"Sorry," the pale boy was visibly flustered and helped putting out the fire.  
  
"Never m-mind." The scorched boy, very small and a bit on the chubby side, had blushed. "I - I'm Peter. P-peter Pettigrew."  
  
"Remus Lupin."  
  
Lucius watched them shake shaking hands and turned back to Sirius. "At least we won't have to live with them," he muttered. "I can't wait to see our common room, Bellatrix has told me all about it -"  
  
"Yes!" Sirius was grateful for a topic to talk about. "All silver and green, and the snakes on the tapestry sometimes even hiss…"  
  
They were interrupted by the ghosts gliding through them and through the closed doors into the Great Hall, and then, before they realized it, the doors swung open and the Sorting began.  
  
'Ashcroft, Henry' was the first to go. Lucius watched him being Sorted into Hufflepuff and chuckled. "Good place for a Mudblood."  
  
"The only place to be." Sirius grinned.  
  
"Azzaz, Zazza!"  
  
A pretty dark-haired girl hurried to the chair, put on the hat and was immediately Sorted into Ravenclaw.  
  
"Black, Sirius!"  
  
"There you go," Lucius muttered and gave Sirius a comforting nudge.  
  
Nevertheless, Sirius felt very self-conscious and insecure as he walked up and sat down. He took a deep breath as the Sorting Hat was lowered on his head.  
  
"Ah," said the Hat, "another Black, now let me just GUESS where you're go-… hm… well. I must say…" The Hat trailed off, muttering to himself. "This is most… I've never… tricky… Ooohoohoo, what a temper, no patience at all, definitely not Ravenclaw, no, and Hufflepuff was never in question anyway, but…"  
  
Time went by. It was agonizing. Sirius sat there and felt more and more sick with each passing moment. This couldn't be possible! He was supposed to be Sorted into Slytherin, like all Blacks!  
  
"Ah, yes, I know, I know, my boy, but I don't Sort by family, you know?" the Hat said into his mind. "And you're a very tricky patient, my lad… such a strong wish to please your family, yes, but there is so much more to you… and I fear that whatever I decide might be the wrong decision… well, we could just say eenie-meenie-… Just joking. No, all things considered, I think it would best be - GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
The Hat was taken off.  
  
Sirius stood up numbly. "What?" he muttered.  
  
There was complete silence in the Hall. Nobody at the Gryffindor table cheered. Everyone was just staring at him, but nobody stared quite as his cousin Bellatrix from the Slytherin table.  
  
"Bones, Rose! Black, sit down with the rest of your house."  
  
Sirius stumbled to the Gryffindors and sat down as far away as possible from everyone else. He was dazed. He didn't hear anything, he didn't see anything, he just sat there at the red and golden table, feeling defeated and wronged and stupid. /This must be a mistake/, he thought frantically. /I SHOULD be in Slytherin!/  
  
He suddenly realized that everybody else was eating already. The Sorting was over. Lucius threw him a shocked look from the Slytherin table, and all Sirius could do was shake his head and shrug and feel even more ashamed than he already did.  
  
At last the feast was over. Sirius hadn't eaten a thing. He walked behind the others without paying attention to what the Prefects were telling them. He knew everything already from various cousins, the moving staircases and the pictures and everything. Judging by the many enraptured and delighted faces, more than half of his new 'friends' had never heard about Hogwarts before. He would study with Mudbloods. His mother wouldn't be happy. No, not at all.  
  
Finally, they were in the Gryffindor common room and the two new Gryffindor girls were guided away by the female Prefect.  
  
"Well," said Myrddin Jones, the other Gryffindor Prefect, "since there are so many Firstie boys this year, you're going to have to split into two dormitories. McMonaghan, Pettigrew, Potter, Smith and Unnings, yours is the first one here, and the other one is for Lupin, Grand, Dixon and…" He threw an uncomfortable glance at Sirius. "And Black. Off you go, boys, and have much fun in Gryffindor."  
  
Sirius sat down on his bed, avoiding the stares. He began to mechanically unpack his trunk. Justin Grand and Mycroft Dixon whispered to each other and finally went outside. Sirius was glad. He knew that they were talking about him.  
  
The pale boy, Lupin, who'd earlier ignited Pettigrew's robes, smiled at him. "Hello."  
  
Sirius glared at him. "What do you want?"  
  
Lupin looked taken aback. "Well, I wanted to say hello, and I just did so, so never mind," he answered irritably.  
  
"Are you pure blood?"  
  
"Are you stupid? What does that matter?"  
  
"Well, you certainly aren't Muggle-born or you wouldn't have set off your wand like that…" Sirius said and grinned.  
  
Lupin just shrugged. "I'll be whatever you want me to be, Black. I just wanted to be nice, but obviously you aren't comfortable with that."  
  
The door suddenly burst open and the five other boys rushed in.  
  
"Isn't this stupid?"  
  
"TWO dorms? Where's the fun?"  
  
"We can sneak in and out of each others' rooms now, though!"  
  
"Still, I never thought -"  
  
"Well, nine people in one room, just think about snoring -"  
  
"Hey, were are the two others?" A skinny boy with black, unruly hair looked at the empty beds.  
  
"They left to talk behind my back," Sirius replied coolly.  
  
"Ah. How clever of them to make sure you don't notice." The boy grinned.  
  
"Yes, very considerate." Sirius couldn't help smiling.  
  
The boy walked up to him, extending a hand. "James Potter."  
  
"Sirius Black," Sirius said, taking the hand.  
  
"You have to be joking!" exclaimed James. "I thought you were in Slytherin!"  
  
Sirius stared at him.  
  
James winked and grinned even broader.  
  
The other boys stared at them.  
  
"Funny," Sirius said at last, "I thought that hair of yours would drain any thought that might develop inside your big head."  
  
James laughed and clapped his shoulder. "You'll be alright here, mate."  
  
Sirius was very aware of the uncomfortable stares of the other boys.  
  
James finally seemed to notice too. "Want to see my cat?" he suggested easily.  
  
"Sure," Sirius muttered and followed James into the other dorm.  
  
"They'll get used to you," James said reassuringly. "They'll have to."  
  
"I just wish I was in Slytherin," Sirius sighed.  
  
James walked to his bed and picked up a lazy, huge, brown-and-white cat sitting on it. "Well, but you aren't."  
  
"No."  
  
James absent-mindedly stroked the purring cat. "Did the Hat say why? It took an awful long time with you."  
  
Sirius hesitated. "It - I think it was about to Sort me into Slytherin right away, then it said something about me being tricky and him making a wrong decision whatever it'd say, and then it said Gryffindor."  
  
James frowned. "That's weird."  
  
"Yes, I guess." Sirius sat down next to James and let the cat sniff at his hand before he began to stroke it. "What… what did it say to you?"  
  
"To me?" James grinned. "It just touched my head and then it already began to chuckle, said 'oh my, oh my, oh my' and then shouted Gryffindor."  
  
Sirius snorted. "Wonder what that's supposed to mean…"  
  
"Ask my parents, I think they have a clue." James laughed. "Hey, if the others are nasty to you, just ignore them."  
  
"Can… do you think… with two rooms…" Sirius stared at the floor.  
  
James looked at him for a long moment. "Yes?"  
  
"The others hate me."  
  
James smiled. "Maybe Unnings would shift beds with you, I think he's friends with that Dixon boy."  
  
"Really?" Sirius asked hopefully.  
  
"Guess we'll have to ask a Prefect, though."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"We'll do that tomorrow, alright?"  
  
Sirius felt a wave of relief sweep him. "Thanks, James."  
  
"You're welcome, Sssssiriusssss."  
  
Before James knew, his pillow struck his face, his cat fled with panic, and then he was engaged in a wrestle with his newly won friend. 


	2. Chapter 2

I know I said that I hadn't planned any sequels but the reviews were so nice. :) So it's just a bit more as long as I have any ideas what to write. Thanks for reviewing!

Sirius was sitting miserably next to his trunk in the dorm. The others were all in the common room for the end-of-year festivities but he didn't feel like celebrating. He was going home.

Home.

Grimmauld Place.

He hadn't been there over Christmas or Easter, claiming that he wanted to study and that travelling made him sick, when in fact he had spent most of the time roaming Hogwarts with James and trying to befriend Peeves, a task at which the two boys had been surprisingly successful. He still played tricks on them just as he did on everyone else but he also sometimes whispered warnings at them when a teacher was about to discover their latest pranks.

Sirius looked around the dorm and sighed. It had been such fun in Gryffindor once he was settled, which had taken a week of changing beds and rooms back and forth until he and James roomed with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew and the other five stayed together in the second room. Lupin hadn't minded rooming with Sirius, and Peter had just been told what to do. He was also forced to join James's crazy ideas whenever he and Sirius needed a third person and Lupin wasn't in the mood for it. Most of the time, Peter complied with a helpless sigh.

Sirius grinned. Yes, they had begun to form a very nice gang indeed.

The door opened. Sirius didn't have to look up to know who it was.

"Aren't you coming?" James asked.

Sirius shook his head.

"Why not?" James walked in and closed the door behind him. "Canary Nightingale has been sent a couple of Cackling Cakes!" He sat down next to Sirius. "Only two more hours to have fun together," he added then with a wink. "How about asking Peeves for help at a real goodbye moment?"

"I don't want to go home." Sirius was shocked at the desolate sound of his own voice.

James looked at him and his grin vanished. "I know."

"No, you don't. You don't know what it's like. You don't know my mother. You have no clue what it'll be like to have Bellatrix visiting us in August. You don't know what Pureblood Festivals are like. You don't know how I'll feel having the Malfoys over for tea every other week. You don't know a thing." Sirius had said all this with such a leaden calm that he began to be scared of himself.

"You're right. I don't." James ran his hand through his unruly hair to make it even more spiky. "I don't think your parents will allow you to visit me, will they?"

"Never."

"Thought so. Not a Mudblood-loving Potter."

"Exactly."

They sat together in silence for a while. "It's only till autumn, though," James said then. "It's not forever."

"Autumn IS forever," Sirius sighed. "It means weeks of my mother asking me why I'm not in Slytherin, and weeks of my father complaining that I'm so bad in Charms –"

"But you're top of class in Transfiguration!"

"Oh, James, he never cares about things someone's good at, only things that don't go well matter. Success isn't something worth talking about, it's expected…" Sirius plucked at his dirty fingernails. "He'll ask me why I'm not the best in everything."

"Only because you're a Black doesn't mean you have to be a git," James muttered and grinned. "There's life apart from studying, tell him that."

Sirius sneered. "I want you to walk up to my father and tell him that."

"No thanks."

"Thought so."

They sat in silence for a while. Sirius had cleaned his fingernails and started searching for another way to keep his hands busy.

"I could visit you on my broomstick," James said suddenly.

Sirius gaped at him.

"At night, of course. I'll send you an owl telling you when so that you can keep your window open."

"But – I mean – your parents will never allow it!"

James grinned his usual broad mischievous grin. "They will if I tell them it's to deliver someone from the claws of the Black family."

Sirius couldn't help smiling. "They'll never allow you to fly such a long way on your own, Jamie."

"We'll see. Wait for my owl."

"Alright, I will," Sirius answered, trying to hope for it to really happen.

The door burst open and in came Peter, giggling and snorting. He stopped dead as he saw the two calm figures sitting on Sirius's bed. "Oh, here you are. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," James said quickly before Sirius could answer.

Peter stared at him like a dog whose tail has just been stepped on.

"I don't want to go home," Sirius explained.

"Oh." Peter looked embarrassed. "Yes. I guess your family won't be happy about a lot of things. I mean, you almost failed Potions and Charms and then there's all the detentions and –"

"Thank you, Peter, I know what went on this year," Sirius growled.

"Oh, leave him alone!" Remus said from behind Peter and joined them in the dorm. "If you want to be grumpy, go ahead, but don't vent it on us. You're always picking on Peter even though he's part of our gang."

"Oh, don't go howling at the moon," James grumbled and smiled as he saw Remus blush. Peter didn't know his secret yet. James had guessed it and confided in Sirius and they had talked to Remus about it, but Peter had been, as so often, left in the dark.

"Are you going to sulk until we leave?" Peter asked, as usual not noticing something was going on behind his back. "Or are we going to do something?"

"We'll do something!" Sirius decided and got up.

"BRILLIANT!" James was on his feet in a second. "Like what?"

Sirius thought for a moment, then grinned broadly.

"Uuurgh!" Lucius had stepped out of the Slytherin dungeon and right into a heap of dung, and the others coming out behind him forced him to wade further into the muck until they noticed it too, only to be pushed on by those still in the common room.

"What the –"

"Who –"

"Someone call the headmaster!"  
"That was Peeves, I bet it was!"

The four boys behind the turn in the corridor had seen enough. Before someone with authority could find them, they hurried through a secret shortcut and back to Gryffindor and into their dorm where they collapsed panting, gasping and laughing so hard that their sides seemed to burst.

"Oh, his EXPRESSION!" Sirius howled. 

"I'll never forget that face again," James chuckled madly, "I've been wanting to do something like this for ages!"

Remus only lay on his bed laughing helplessly and Peter started to say something, choked, and began to cough violently.

"We have to hurry," Remus said after a moment, "or they'll leave without us!"

Still chuckling they grabbed their trunks and walked to the carriages that'd bring them to the Hogwarts Express. Sirius felt a lot better now. It was only for the summer. It wasn't forever. James was going to visit him on his broomstick and Remus and Peter were going to write to him.

Quite cheerful they found a compartment for themselves and spent some nice time planning what they'd do as soon as they were back at school when suddenly the door opened.

Lucius Malfoy glared at them. "I know it was you!" he growled at Sirius. "You and your sad little gang! And I'll make sure your parents will hear about it and that they'll make you pay!"

"I was what exactly?" Sirius asked innocently.

Lucius looked ready to kill him on the spot.

"He's right, though," James smiled, "it was you who beat him at Transfiguration."

Lucius eyed him icily. "I wonder what your parents will say when they learn about your marauding friends here."

"You're just jealous because you don't have any friends, Lurkius," Sirius retorted. "You only have you little snivelling servant…"

"Yes, Snivellus," James cackled, "did you put the Imperius on him or is he such a creep by nature?"

"Better Severus than that halfblood halfwit there!" Lucius pointed at Peter, who blanched. "Or someone as poor as Lupin! Or a Potter!" He stormed out of the compartment, slamming the door behind him.

"You're right," Remus grinned, "he IS jealous."

"Marauding friends, huh?" Sirius barked a contemptuous laugh.

"I quite like that," Peter said quietly. "Sounds stylish."

James eyes him thoughtfully. "You know, Peter's right. It does sound…"

"Nifty," Sirius completed.

"Yes."

"Dangerous." Remus winked.

"Glorious," Peter added.

"Famous and invincible!" James smiled, pleased with himself, and bit in one of the Chocolate Frogs they had bought earlier. "To the Marauders!" he munched.

The others grinned, took their bites as well and joined in the chewed toast. "To the Marauders – to us!"

"You know, Sirius, your parents can't really be angry with you," Remus said once his mouth was free of chocolate, "you're making your time at Hogwarts as uncomfortable for Dumbledore as you can…"


	3. Chapter 3

"Remus did WHAT?" Sirius gasped.  
  
"Shhhht!" James glared at him, gripping the handle of his broom so hard that his knuckles turned white. "You'll wake up your family."  
  
"He kissed a werewolf girl?" Sirius hissed.  
  
"Yes. Met her last full moon, they got along well, so when they changed back she kissed him."  
  
Sirius stared at the figure hovering in front of his bedroom window. It was James' third nightly visit since the holidays had started. The August moon was bright on the nightly sky and there was a first tiny hint at autumnly chill in the air. "A werewolf girl!"  
  
"I think it's cool," James said defensively. "I mean, it's not his fault he's a werewolf. He didn't stand there saying 'please bite me'."  
  
"No, he wouldn't – he's not you." Sirius grinned. "A werewolf. Just how nifty is that? Would you kiss a werewolf girl?"  
  
Although it was night he could see James blush. "Of course not."  
  
"Why not? Not while she's wolfish, of course, but I mean generally…"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not? What if you kiss a girl and later find out she's a werewolf?"  
  
"You're a git."  
  
"And you haven't answered."  
  
James glared at him helplessly. "I don't know. Alright? If I kiss a girl I hope she isn't a werewolf."  
  
"You've never –"  
  
"I'm twelve years old, Sirius, and no, I've never kissed a girl! Don't tell me you have!"  
  
Now it was Sirius' turn to turn crimson. "Well…"  
  
James' lips widened into a nasty grin. "Who?"  
  
"Nssssa."  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
Sirius sighed. "Narcissa."  
  
James gave a funny noise as he burst into a fit of laughter and put a hand over his face to stifle it. "The Ice Queen?" he hissed when he had calmed down. "Priceless!"  
  
"Nobody must know!"  
  
"Talk about 'kissing cousins'," James sniggered.  
  
Sirius just slapped his hand with which he was steadying himself on the window sill.   
  
"Ouch."  
  
"Wasn't even a real kiss. Was just a ... thingie. And I was only ten."  
  
James just grinned. It was unnerving.  
  
"Won't you come in?" Sirius muttered at last.  
  
"Rather not, I don't want your family to catch me here. Muggle-loving Potter, you know. Wouldn't be healthy. Also I need to practice my broom."  
  
"Yes, hovering is so difficult compared to dives and somersaults", Sirius said scathingly and grinned.  
  
"Watch it, Black." James chuckled. "At least I don't run from bludgers."  
  
"I never run from anything."  
  
James looked at him. "You know, I actually believe that," he muttered. "At least not from werewolves."  
  
Sirius smiled darkly. "Jamie, after growing up in this place I find werewolves quite entertaining and less scary than other things I've seen."  
  
James' eyes narrowed. "What things?"  
  
"You wouldn't want to know. Dark things. Malfoy-Black-things. Don't ask."  
  
James opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "Alright, I won't. Seems to be even scarier than kissing Narcissa."  
  
"Thanks, mate." Sirius smiled. It was one of the rare open smiles that sometimes hit his face to lighten it up, and as usual it vanished after only a second.  
  
"Just two more weeks," James said dreamily.  
  
"I can't wait."  
  
"Me neither. Hogwarts. More secret passages to find. A Malfoy to pester…"  
  
Sirius laughed. "And the Marauders."  
  
"And the Marauders," James agreed, beaming brightly. "Can a name be any more nifty?"  
  
"You know," Sirius dived into his room and came back to the window with some Every Flavour Beans, "before we left I had a chat with Peeves and he mentioned something about a secret passage into Hogsmeade."  
  
James whistled through his teeth. "Awesome!"  
  
"Indeed."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"He wouldn't tell. That's the fun of it, isn't it, Jamie? The finding out, the secret quests at night, the running from the teachers and all?" Sirius' eyes were lit brightly with inner fire. "You don't live unless you're in danger."  
  
James solemnly took one of the Every Flavour Beans and blew on it. "Amen to that." He put the little sweet into his mouth. "Mmh, lucky me."  
  
"What, peppermint?"  
  
"Iguana." James grinned and spit it to the ground. It had quite a way to fall down and vanished in the grass.  
  
"How do you know what iguanas taste like?"  
  
"Don't ask." James chuckled. "Nasty Potter-Weasley-things." He winked and took another Bean.  
  
Sirius smiled happily. "Can't wait to be back at school."  
  
"Me neither. Wait, am I having a déjà vu?"  
  
"No, we already discussed it."  
  
"Good. I really don't want to pick Divination next year." James laughed. "Not exactly my kind of subject."  
  
"Why not? It only involves sitting still in a stuffy hot room staring at tea leaves." Sirius tossed another Bean out of the window. James expertly dived for it and caught it with his mouth. "And you like doing calm things so much as we all know."  
  
"Exactly." James spit the Bean out. "Unwashed feet. It really is my lucky night."  
  
"You should have kept those two for later use on Lucius."  
  
"Ah, yes. How inconsiderate of me."  
  
"I'll forgive you."  
  
"Thank you, Sirius, you're a real friend."  
  
"I know, too good to be true."  
  
"Only if you never kiss Narcissa again."  
  
They looked at each other chuckling when a sudden noise came from somewhere within the old dark house. Both boys jumped. James gripped the window to steady himself. None of them dared to breathe.  
  
"No burglars would dare…" Sirius' mother could be heard from downstairs.  
  
"No, no, not burglars," a screechy high-pitched voice answered devotedly, "but pests, yes, pesty nasty things maybe that fly through the air to haunt little boys' dreams…"  
  
"Kreacher!" Sirius hissed.  
  
"What's a Kreacher?" James whispered.  
  
"It's the house elf whose skin will hang on my wall one day!" Sirius growled murderously.  
  
For a moment James was actually scared, realizing that Sirius really meant what he'd just said. "Watch your temper," he muttered.  
  
"Off with you, they're coming!" Footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs.  
  
"Aww, shucks!"  
  
"Go, Jamie!" Sirius' fingernails suddenly dug into James' wrist so that he let go of the window with a small sound of pain.  
  
"Alright, alright, I'm leaving, no need to get all physical!"  
  
The door banged open. James kicked against the wall, giving himself enough acceleration to speed his broom away rather quickly. "See you at Hogwarts!" he yelled, a black shade against the bright almost full moon.  
  
"You bet!" Sirius shouted after him.  
  
"SIRIUS!" Mrs Black's voice rang so loud and vicious that even though James was already down the street it sent a shiver down his spine. He was too far away to hear the answer, though:  
  
"Why, have you been sleepwalking, mother?" 


	4. Chapter 4

The reunion was glorious. James was there first with his family but he was soon joined by Remus, whose parents looked tense and weary but seemed rather glad that their son was welcomed in such a warm way by the Potters. The Hogwarts Express huffed and gleamed in the sun, everywhere around First-Years were trying to get rid off their parents and older children met old friends. Finally Peter came huffing and puffing along with his luggage.

"Patty Gru!" James exclaimed grinning. "We thought you wouldn't make it!"

Peter just grimaced, sat down on his trunk and panted.

"Where are your parents?" asked Mrs Lupin.

Peter's face grew dark. "Ministry task."

"What do your parents do?" James inquired.

Peter looked up, sniffled and wiped his nose. "I think we should get on board."

"But Sirius hasn't –"

"He'll be here soon enough."

Remus shrugged. "Alright. Probably a good idea, that way we'll get a space of our own."

Remus and James said goodbye to their parents and then helped Peter with his huge trunk. As soon as they'd settled down comfortably, James opened a window and looked outside on the platform.

"He still isn't here," he muttered worriedly.

"He'll come in a moment, I'm sure," Remus said and yawned. "Gosh, I'm glad full moon's over, I was afraid I'd miss the train."

"Nah, you wouldn't have. We'd have bought a nice collar for you."

Peter grinned. "One with your name stitched on. 'Moony'."

James snorted against the glass. "Oops," he chuckled, wiping it. "Good one, Pete."

"There he is!" Remus said hastily to change the subject. "With the whole clan!"

Indeed, a herd of Blacks and Malfoys had just appeared on the platform, among them a very sullen-looking Sirius. They were followed by a somewhat larger herd of house-elves carrying and pulling luggage.

"OY!" James shouted and waved through the window. "Sirius!"

Within a second, the two other Marauders were at his side shouting and waving.

Sirius' sulky face sparkled with a warm grin, then he simply shooed away an elf from his luggage and dragged it to the train, ignoring his family's furious complaints about how he was supposed to travel with Lucius and give a proper goodbye first.

The three Marauders rushed to the door and helped Sirius get his stuff on the train, then they led him to their compartment, shoved him into a seat and gave him some candy.

"I've never been so glad in my whole life to get away from home," Sirius sighed happily. "Mother's gone frantic after your last visit."

"You've visited him, James?" Peter asked wide-eyed.

"Yes."

"How?"

"On my broomstick."

"You're mad," Remus said admiringly. "That's such a long way to fly!"

Sirius clapped James's back. "He'll get into the Quidditch team this year, just you wait and see."

Soon the train started moving and the four Marauders were busy telling about their holidays, joking, eating candy and planning assaults on the Slytherins, "especially a certain blond arrogant prat called Malfoy", as Sirius insisted. And none of his friends disagreed.


End file.
